Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c6.6

c6.6

MESOLITHIC—The Middle Stone Age was intermediary between the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic Ages. It is represented by Microlithic tools of very small size. The tiny tools were fixed singly or collectively to a handle to make them more effective. Such tools may be identified with *śilimukha* of Sanskrit literature. The material consists of jasper, agate, carnelian, chalcidony, quartz and flint. The types of tools include blades, sometimes serreted (Hindi, *dāntedār*), crescents, triangles, points, scrapers etc. Microlithic sites spread in the Sabarmati valley in Gujrat, Narmada valley and along the lower Godavari. In the last region microliths were found in association with coarse hand-made pottery. From the chronological point of view microlithic industry went hand in hand with the neolithic and at times projected into the historic period. At Brahmagiri microlithic and neolithic cultures were found related to early historical times.